Goldie is a special individual. A genuine ‘one in a million’. A prolific graffiti writer from back in the day (I once got a minibus to Wolverhampton with a bunch of others to go find some of his original wall works), then the Drum & Bass producer and label boss (Metalheadz) who produced certainly the most successful and perhaps the most amazing and most beautiful D&B records of all time (Timeless), then becoming an actor (James Bond baddie, Snatch Yardie and Eastenders villain), like he had nothing better to do.
In short, Goldie has no shortage of talents. NOTHING, however, prepared me for this…
Now this isn’t a new clip, but because this was a BBC2 show (God Bless ‘em, this is BBC2’s version of American Idol!) it isn’t widely known, so I’m showing you guys because it’s testament to true genius. What’s all the more extraordinary about this is the response from the classical music world and the fact that GOLDIE CANNOT READ A NOTE OF MUSIC!
Now some of you think that being a conductor can’t be that hard, but ask anyone who’s tried; an orchestra will fall apart without a conductor. It’s absolutely central to the seamlessness of the performance of 40+ classical musicians. Try asking them if it is possible to do what Goldie did without being able to read music and most will tell you that it’s probably not, at least it’s nothing short of extraordinary.
Personally, what I love about this was that it was the time when Goldie was at his lowest. He was going through a messy divorce and had just suffered the most horrific ski jumping accident that shattered his right leg and gave him a TWO FOOT LONG scar down his right side. Some people don’t recover (on many levels) from that kind of thing. So seeing this, really gave me a little faith in humanity, faith in our ability to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves down, and a BIG chunk of respect for my friend.
So what is Goldie doing now?
Art. Take a look…
Now there is no denying that these works from Goldie haven’t been influenced a little by a small british artist called Banksy (ahem!) but then again, I would imagine that Banksy, in many ways had to have been influenced by Goldie both through Goldie’s pioneering work as a grafitti writer and as the provider of the soundtrack to our urban lives in the 90’s. So in my book this is British art that has grown from a complete ‘collective Britishness’ that it is hard for anyone who hasn’t lived that life to understand, interpreted and delivered by one of the few that has the vision, skill and inherent NEED to define it.
Misogynistic? Hmmm, maybe some of Goldie’s work does show the female form from a fundamentally male point of view, but then again, a) Goldie IS a guy and b) Goldie’s mind is so subversive, so able to switch between truth and irony, I couldn’t say for sure what his motivation is. As with all art, it’s up to the beholder to decide.
Whatever you think about Goldie, and my bias is that he’s been a friend for a decade (I think that the photographer at our wedding took more photos of him than he did my wife and I), but whatever YOU think of Goldie, there is no denying that when the Space People of the future look back at pop culture in Britain during the last two decades, they will dig Goldie. He flipped between the underground and the mainstream so effortlessly that he defied definition. He will be held responsible for some of the most significant images, sounds and emotions for a great many of us. And what would Goldie’s response be to you if you were to politely suggest that you didn’t like what he was doing?
This.
Watch out for an exclusive interview with Goldie on this Blog soon.
http://www.metalheadz.co.uk/
